The encyclopedia · Software & IT · Strategic decision · 2022–2025
Namma Yatri cut ride-hailing commissions to zero and made drivers keep the whole fare
An auto union and Juspay built a zero-commission, open-source ride app on ONDC; drivers kept 100% of fares and Ola and Uber were forced to copy the model.
Namma Yatri · Juspay
The solution
For years Ola and Uber dominated Indian ride-hailing while taking a 20-30% cut of every fare, a share drivers said rose much higher once fees and penalties were counted. Protests over commissions became routine, but no alternative existed.
On November 1, 2022, Namma Yatri launched in Bengaluru: an app built by payments company Juspay with the city's auto unions, hosted on ONDC's open network and released as open source. Drivers keep 100% of the fare and pay a flat daily subscription instead of a commission; unions own the push, so adoption grew through driver word of mouth rather than subsidies.
The model scaled. By June 2025 the platform had completed over 10.38 crore rides and generated more than Rs 1,700 crore in earnings for 6.13 lakh registered drivers, and a lifetime zero-commission cab plan in Bengaluru charged a flat Rs 90 a day after a free window.
Why it worked
- A flat fee decouples platform revenue from fares, so there is no incentive to inflate surge pricing
- Open source and open data let unions and cities verify the platform takes no hidden cut
- Driver unions recruited peers, giving adoption a trusted local channel instead of paid ads
- The ONDC protocol lets any app join, so the network is owned by no single company
What can be applied
When the incumbent's fee structure is the pain point, flip it: flat subscription instead of percentage cut, full pay to the supplier, and open code they can verify. Rivals were forced to follow.
Aftermath
Juspay spun Namma Yatri off into Moving Tech Innovations in April 2024, and the company raised $11 million from Blume, Antler and Google. The zero-commission idea spread: Rapido adopted subscription plans in 2023, and Uber and Ola followed with their own flat-fee models in 2025. India's Economic Survey 2023-24 cited Namma Yatri as an ONDC success story. Analysts caution that flat fees decouple platform income from volume, so long-term profitability is still unproven.
Sources
- Namma Yatri sets sights on sustainable growth, unveils driver welfare trust
- Ola, Uber & The Zero-Commission U-Turn
- nammayatri/nammayatri — A Direct-to-Driver open mobility platform
- Bengaluru's ride booking app Namma Yatri cited as success story of ONDC
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